FIC Report (Jos) – In continuation of his inspection of on-going Legacy projects across Plateau State, Governor Simon Bako Lalong has visited more project sites to ascertain the level of work being carried out.
Governor Lalong in company of his Deputy, Prof. Sonni Gwanle Tyoden and other top government officials visited the Potato Tissue Culture Laboratory in Mangu Local Government which is almost completed.
The Governor who was taken round the facility was informed that the Potato Tissue Culture Laboratory is meant to produce quality variety of seedlings that are resistant to diseases that are currently ravaging the crop in the State.
The facility will also provide the platform for educating farmers in the State on various ways of value addition to the potatoes for preservation, and export.
The Governor expressed delight at the facility which he said was part of the grand design to usher in a new phase in potatoes farming in Plateau State which is a crop that the State has comparative advantage in, but has not been able to maximize its advantage.
He said “when I laid the foundation for this facility, I stated clearly that we have to take the production of potatoes beyond where it is today. We have to produce all year round and add value to it for domestic consumption and export. The situation where we farmers produce potatoes that is wasted or sold at giveaway prices does not help us because we lack capacity for value addition. This has to change as we must create more jobs for our youths and increase the earning capacity of farmers.”
The Governor was also at the Panyam General Hospital Legacy Project site where he inspected on-going work at the site. He was told that the project was slowed down because of compensation issues.
Governor Lalong was not happy with the development and directed the Local Government Chairman and the traditional ruler of the area to ensure that such issues do not arise again because government decided to site the project in the area based on the request of the people and after due consultation.
He said “we want to complete the project during our tenure to avoid the problem of abandoned projects. We decided to complete the projects we inherited, but you can’t be sure of what those coming behind us will do. They may not focus on it if we don’t complete it which will become a waste while the people continue to suffer”.
Another Legacy Project visited by Governor Lalong was the Technical School Construction at the Government College Pankshin which is meant to transform the school to its original status of a technical institution since it was initially a Craft School.He was happy that the work has gone up to 60 percent and expressed hope that it will be commissioned in the first quarter of 2020.
Lalong emphasized that “we are determined to entrench technical education in our educational system in order to develop skills that are needed to empower our youths and turn them into entrepreneurs and job creators rather than job seekers. When we do that, we are sure of eliminating poverty and crime and enhancing peace”.
The Governor addressed the students of Government College Pankshin to pay attention to their studies as the future of the State and the country depends on them.
In the spirit of the yuletide season, Governor Lalong donated two cows to the students.
Correspondent Francis Lahnim kusa
FIC, JOS.
